63: Pharmacists meeting

At the entrance of Garden Community in Linzhou City.

Dozens of interview vans, emblazoned with the logos of various media outlets, swarmed the community entrance like sharks smelling blood, blocking it completely.

Countless reporters, carrying cameras and microphones, poured out of the vehicles, and the scene quickly spiraled out of control.

Inside the community's guard booth, the two security guards were dumbfounded.

They had worked there for over ten years, and this was only the second time in their lives they had seen such a spectacle... No, this spectacle was even grander than the last one!

“What... what is this for? Filming a movie?” the younger security guard stammered.

The older, more experienced security guard pushed open the door and stopped a reporter who was running at the front.

“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? This is a private community; you can’t just enter!”

The reporter, annoyed at being stopped, directly flashed a credential in front of the security guard.

“Linzhou Daily! We’re here for an interview! Major news!”

“Interview?” The security guard was stunned. “Interview who?”

“Lin Yao! The newly promoted Mythical-tier Professional Awakener this year! She lives in your community!” another female reporter, squeezing through from the side, shouted loudly, as if afraid of falling behind.

Mythical-tier Professional!

Lin Yao!

The minds of the two security guards in the booth buzzed.

They, of course, knew Lin Yao, the quiet and well-behaved girl from the Lin family, whose grades were always at the top of her class, the pride of the community.

But a Mythical-tier Professional? What was that concept? They didn't know... Linzhou City had never produced one!

They only knew it was an absolutely enormous deal!

“Lin... Lin Yao’s house?” The older security guard reacted, instinctively wanting to point the way. “Oh, oh, she lives in Unit 7, Building B...”

Before he could finish, he suddenly remembered something and swallowed the latter half of the sentence.

That's not right.

Why did this scene feel so familiar?

“Unit 7, Building B! Thanks, old man!”

The first few reporters heard the crucial information and immediately charged into the depths of the community like wild dogs unleashed.

The rest of the main group followed closely.

Only an intern reporter, new to the job, was a bit slower. After running for a while, he suddenly saw several senior veterans stop, their faces showing strange expressions, and he couldn't help but curiously approach them.

“Brother Wang, why aren’t you running anymore? If you don’t run, all the good spots will be gone!”

The old reporter, referred to as Brother Wang, did not answer him.

He just stared blankly in the direction of Unit 7, Building B, muttering to himself.

“Unit 7, Building B... why is it this address...”

“What’s wrong with this address?” The intern reporter was even more confused.

Next to Brother Wang, another female reporter from a TV station gave a wry smile and took over the conversation.

“Xiao Li, you’re new, so you don’t know. Five years ago, we... also came to this address once.”

“Ah?”

“For another person.”

“Who?”

Brother Wang slowly uttered two words.

“Lin Yu.”

Lin Yu!

As this name came out, the faces of several other old reporters who had also stopped showed complex and inexpressible emotions.

There was regret, mockery, and a lingering trace of memories from that year.

Intern reporter Xiao Li was completely bewildered.

“Who is Lin Yu? Is he famous?” “Famous? More than famous.” Brother Wang lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, his eyes becoming distant. “Five years ago, the most dazzling genius in Linzhou City, a superstar who awakened the Gold Epic-tier Professional, Myriad Card Creator. When we came to interview him back then, the scene was no smaller than today’s!”

“Epic-tier Professional? What happened then?” Xiao Li pressed.

“Then?” Brother Wang exhaled a smoke ring, scoffing. “Then, the genius turned into a madman. Obsessed with some damned cards, he deferred his exams for five consecutive years, broke with his family, and became the laughingstock of the entire Linzhou City.”

“Ah? This...” Xiao Li was too shocked to speak.

The story of a fallen genius is always so poignant.

“Wait!” The female reporter from the TV station suddenly thought of something, and her expression instantly froze. “Lin Yu... Lin Yao...”

The cigarette butt in Brother Wang’s hand fell to the ground.

“Holy crap!”

“They’re siblings!”

“I remember now! When we interviewed Lin Yu five years ago, his sister was right there! Shy and timid, not daring to say a word!”

“That’s right! It was her! I can’t believe it! After five years, she actually awakened a Mythical-tier Professional!”

This discovery might be even more explosive than the Mythical-tier Professional itself!

In one family, the brother was once a highly anticipated Epic-tier genius, now a madman and a laughingstock.

His sister, five years later, soared to success, awakening a Mythical-tier Professional that surpassed Epic-tier!

What a dramatic twist of fate!

The potential news angles to explore here were simply exploding!

“Go, go, go! Quick!”

Brother Wang instantly stomped out his cigarette butt, his entire being seemingly energized, renewed with vigor.

“We drew a blank at the Zhao family for the other Mythical-tier Professional, Shura; they’re gone! Now all our bets are on Lin Yao! This is an exclusive among exclusives!”

All the reporters went wild.

They no longer hesitated, charging towards Unit 7, Building B... Linzhou City, top floor of the Global Financial Center.

Inside a conference room overlooking the entire city, smoke billowed, and the atmosphere was so oppressive it could be wrung out.

“Bang!”

A test report was slammed onto the huanghuali wood conference table, making the expensive bone china teacups jump.

Wang Teng, the chairman of Juli Group, a burly middle-aged man, his chest heaving violently, veins bulging on his neck.

“Genuine! The test result is genuine!”

“The efficacy, ingredients, and molecular structure are no different from the Giant Strength Elixir produced by our company!”

His bloodshot eyes swept over the other three people present.

“Who can tell me what the hell is going on!”

Sitting opposite him was Feng Rui, the vice president of Fengxing Technology.

He pushed up his glasses, pointing at the cliff-like plummeting green curve on the virtual screen in front of him.

“Three days.”

“In just three days, our stock price has evaporated by thirty percent. Those illicit Windwalkers Breath on the black market have already seized nearly forty percent of our market share... It’s terrifying.”

“Moreover, this number is still expanding rapidly.”

“Our distributors’ phones are almost ringing off the hook, all asking why our competitor can slash prices to three-tenths!”

“Three-tenths! They can’t even recover their costs! This is suicidal dumping!”

In the corner, President Shi of Panshi Biology wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his body fat and trembling all over.

“It’s not just dumping... Those wolves, smelling blood, are already preparing to enter the market.”

“They are frantically shorting our stocks! The snowball has already started rolling, and if we don’t find a solution soon, all three of us... will be forced to liquidate and close down!”

Bankruptcy.

This word hung over the heads of the three men, a cold Sword of Damocles.

Three bloodshot gazes, by prior agreement, shot towards the other end of the conference table.

There, sat a man who seemed out of place with the tense atmosphere around him.

Li Mo of Qingyun Pharmaceutical.